Netflix’s “Full Swing” is a breath of fresh air for golf

The sport of golf has already been on a rocket ship since the pandemic started. Netflix’s Full Swing is a breath of fresh air for golf as it finally gives us an insight into the players and the PGA that we’ve never seen before.

Netflix has already done this type of work with Formula 1 using the same type of documentary series that helped turn Americans onto the sport with Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Fans got an inside look at the sport and the drivers like never before. In the first episode, it looks like Daniel Ricciardo is the best driver of all time, so the show can create narratives that aren’t necessarily true if you followed the season on a week to week basis.

In the golf version of the show, we get access to a bunch of the top players in the world. The first episode is primarily focused on Justin Thomas and his win at last year’s PGA Championship to win his second major. SPOILER ALERT INCOMING if you haven’t watched the first episode, go ahead and get on that.

It follows JT around, and gives backstory to how he and Jordan Spieth became friends over their years of competition on the course. They’re flying together on a private jet (you’ll see lots of private jets on this show, because of course) and Spieth is just jawing at JT for taking all of his money on a practice round they just completed.

As the viewer, you can see that they’re just like us normal people on the golf course. They like to talk trash, bet money, and get upset when they don’t play well. They just happen to be two of the best players on the planet, and will most certainly take any and all money we would try to bet them on the course.

My favorite part of the episode is when JT finished up his final round at the PGA Championship and was awaiting to see if he made the playoff. He heads over to the driving range to continue to hit balls and stay warm in case his number is called.

One of his guys around him pulls up the livestream of the major on his phone and is giving him updates about the meltdown that Mito Pereira had on the 18th hole to secure a playoff spot for him and Will Zalatoris, but not between the three of them. JT is just chopping down golf balls on the range as he receives the updates, responding with, “Hm,” and, “Wow, really?”

These are things we would have never gotten if the documentary was never made. We’ll continue to update you on the episodes as people get more time to watch them. Netflix’s Full Swing is a breath of fresh air for golf, and is hopefully going to create more golf fans from it.